Mark Geary

Mark Geary

We are happy to introduce the special guest of the Italian band Truma for a great fusion of italian and Irish music. This year, the Italian Fusion Festival presents the Irish singer-songwriter born in Dublin Mark Geary.

Mark Geary with Truma

Mark Geary with Truma

Dublin native and Celbridge resident Mark Geary has been writing, singing and playing music for the last 30 years; he has 5 studio albums and has toured across the world. In 1992, Mark bought a one-way ticket to New York City and spent several years honing his craft playing the local circuit in the East Village, including numerous appearances at the renowned Sin-é cafe with other upcoming artists, including friend Jeff Buckley.

During that time, Mark’s songwriting skills and engaging live performances garnered him a dedicated audience, the respect and esteem of his peers, and a reputation as one of the finest song-smiths of his generation. Mark is described as a “quintessential singer-songwriter,” and his records of finely crafted songs have been hailed as encapsulating both boisterous joy and gentle, delicate moments that endear themselves to the listener and evoke comparisons to artists such as Van Morrison, John Lennon, Elliot Smith, and Richard Thompson.

His body of work includes 5 studio albums, 2 live recordings, and collaborations with a number of artists, including the release in 2013 of a charity version of his song ‘Christmas Biscuits’ with friend Glen Hansard in aid of St Vincent De Paul. Mark has also lent his talents to the visual arts, scoring several films, including Loggerheads (2005), Steel City (2006), and TriBeCa Film Festival favourite Sons of Perdition (2010).

Over the last 20 years, Mark has toured all over Europe, the US, and Australia and has shared the stage with performers such as The Swell Season, Glen Hansard, The Frames, Josh Ritter, Bell X1, Coldplay, Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, and Joe Strummer. In recent years, he has played shows and festivals in the US and Europe, notably in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.

The new album In the Time of Locust is coming soon.


Combo Tickets 2, including Standard Admission + Pizza + Glass of Prosecco, are now Sold Out.

Combo Tickets 2 are Sold Out

Combo Tickets 2, including Standard Admission + Pizza + Glass of Prosecco, are now Sold Out.

The Standard Tickets, and a very limited number of Combo Tickets 3, including Standard Admission + Pizza + Glass of Prosecco + Dance Workshop, are still available.

 

BalFolk Ensemble

BalFolk Ensemble

We are happy to introduce the bal folk part of our lineup. This year, the Italian Fusion Festival presents BalFolk Ensemble.

The Balfolk Ensemble was born from the BalFolk dance group to add live music to their events. The Ensemble meets regularly at The Hut pub in Phibsboro for an intercultural musical exchange (and to socialize). BalFolk music broadly inspires dances from around the world (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Greece, Turkey, Israel etc.): Chapelloise, Mazurka, Circassian Circle, Waltz, Hassapiko, Sbrando, Repasseado, Schottische.

If you wish to join us in the dances, please come to the workshop from 5 pm to 6 pm, and please buy the limited combo ticket, including this session, where they will teach you the steps. Those who know the dances are welcome to join them on the dancefloor following the class; otherwise, you are welcome to enjoy the live performance and watch the dances they have taught.

Ensemble:

  • Agnese D’Anna, fiddle
  • Els Lemahieu, fiddle
  • Steve Mc Cann, bodhran
  • Laurence Gill, flutes and pipe
  • Nico, flute and clarinet
  • David Delph, bouzouki
  • Rita Garland, guitar
IIF Video Finalists

Short Video Competition 2023 Finalists

We are happy to present the finalists of the Short Video Competition 2023.  The winner will be announced during the event and will be awarded with a plaque and a small cash price. You can vote your favourite video at the end of the post for the Audience Award.

Served by Renee Walker

A calculating woman cooks her estranged husband a meal to die for and serves him with divorce papers. He arrogantly obliges believing that he has the upper hand. But she has other plans. Renee Walker returned to college at 48 to study TV and Media Production. She has immersed herself in many creative projects through the years ranging from choreographing, design painting to being a singer and musician in a wide range of bands. She feels that all of these creative parts of her contribute to the bigger picture. “Art” in all its many forms intertwine and push forward each new stage of her development. Renee continues her persuit of bringing life to thoughts and ideas within the film-making community.


The Return by Chiara Viale

Chiara Viale is an Italian born writer, director and producer based in Ireland. After a degree in English as a Foreign Language and Literature in Milan, she went on studying screenwriting in Dublin and began making independent films. Since then she has written, directed and produced numerous short films. Her first Independent Feature Film ‘The New Music’, was released in 2021. She is co-founder of the Dublin based production company Built To Fail Productions.


A Drinking Pub With A Music Problem by Claire Issartel

Claire is a French writer, director and editor living in Dublin. She studied Theatre and Film at the University in France and moved to Dublin 6 years ago to study film. Since she has made several short-films as writer, director and editor. She shot ‘’ A Drinking Pub With A Music Problem’’ during Kino D event (48 hours Filmmaking challenge) in Dublin with Marco Griffini as a DOP and support in editing and Martin Brady in sound recording. A Drinking Pub with A Music Problem is a short-documentary about the pub The Cobblestone in Dublin.


Renvyle by The Sea by Jan Sisley and Silvana Benedetto

Jan Sisley was born in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa/New Zealand. She graduated with an M.A. from the Auckland University Film School. She has worked on documentaries, music videos, films and television while continuing to make short films of her own. Jan’s festival screenings include CON-TEMPORARY Art Observatorium in Venice, Winnipeg Underground Film Festival, Torino film festival, and as part of The One Minutes screening across Asia and Europe.

Silvana Benedetto was born in Albenga (Italy), but she moved to Ireland in 2008. Fascinated by everything about visual Arts, acting and music since she was a child, she started to be involved in film projects in Ireland in 2013, juggling between long hours in the office and sleepless nights learning lines, writing scripts, producing short films. Can’t wait to retire and focus on acting and documentary film making. Jan and Silvana shot together “Renvyle by the Sea” over two very stormy days in Connemara. It’s an experimental poetic short documentary where we gave voice to local people of one of most remote areas in the West of Ireland. This short documentary won an award as “Spirit of the Festival” at “Shot by the Sea Film Festival” in Galway.


The Circle of Infinity by Stefano Rolando

Stefano Rolando is originally from a small village near Domodossola (VB) and he has been living in Ireland since 2006.He studied at DAMS (Bo) and attended a 2 years filmmaking course at BCFE college in Dublin. He currently works as a digital compositor for EGG vfx. In his VFX career he had the chance to work for international projects as Game of Thrones, The Favourite, The Woman King, Good Omens.  Circle of infinity is the short film he made in 2011 as his personal graduation project at BCFE. It is a personal interpretation of Nietzsche’s eternal return idea. The short film was a no-budget project and it was entirely filmed, edited and directed by Stefano.


Style by Beta O’Dwyer

Geraldine, writing under the name of Beta, is new to filmmaking having made her first short in January of 2023. She is a qualified Accountant by profession. Style was filmed at the Kino Kabaret Dublin filmmaking festival in August in collaboration with Maria Etienne (DOP). Maria graduated from the University of Bologna in 2022 with a masters in cinema and moved to Dublin to pursue a career in the Arts.


Vote your Favourite Video!

 

Combo Tickets Sold Out

Combo Tickets 1 are Sold Out

Communication for Dance lovers: Combo Tickets 1, including Standard Admission and Dance Workshop, are now Sold Out.

A limited number of Combo Tickets 2, including Standard Admission + Pizza + Glass of Prosecco, are still available, and a very limited number of Combo Tickets 3, including Standard Admission + Pizza + Glass of Prosecco + Dance Workshop, are available.

 

 

 

Truma

Truma

We are happy to introduce the folk part of our lineup. This year, the Italian Fusion Festival presents, from Italy, Truma.

The Truma project was born in Chioggia, Italy, in 2010, with the aim of publishing authored folk songs in the dialect that describe the life, culture, and professions of the people of the Venetian lagoon and in particular, of the city of Chioggia. The lyrics and music are written by Riccardo Vianello. On May 5, 2016, the CD of the same name was presented in the auditorium of the lagoon city.

Followed by participation in the national competition Musica nelle Aie for folk music in Faenza with the achievement of 2nd place in the exhibition, then another appointment in Chioggia, Padua, and Treviso. Their performance in Faenza and the content of the album aroused the interest of Rockit and Blogfoolk (the most important music magazines) who review the band and consider it as one of the best new releases of the year. The disco was chosen as a finalist in the dialect disks category for the TENCO AWARD the same year.

In 2017, the second album, “Per Grazia Ricevuta”, was recorded, with another dozen unreleased songs, which will see the light in the spring of the following year. In 2018, Truma participated as guest of honor at Musica nelle Aie (one of the most important folk festivals in Italy), and they have behind him numerous concerts throughout Italy. They collaborated in concert with Mark Geary well-known Irish singer-songwriter, with Vini Lopez (formerly Bruce Spreengsteen’s drummer), and in 2022 Vianello Riccardo played with Scarlet Rivera (Bob Dylan’s violinist). They produced the music for the theatrical works “Rosso Fuoco Truma” and “Legni Spiaggiati”.

In November 2022 they made their first mini tour to Ireland and played at Wheelan’s in Dublin with Mark Geary and Glen Hansard. In May 2023 their single and video for ORO was released, a version of the song GOLD by Fergus o’ Farrel. Their third album is expected to be released in December 2023.

The Truma is the land on which the foundations of the cities are laid of the Venetian lagoon. There Truma keeps us suspended between earth and sky. Truma plays folk music in the Chioggia dialect. The background against which their songs move is the city of Chioggia, its people, its crafts, and its legends. What better language than its dialect can be used to describe this land and its sea? The result is an operation of pride for one’s origins and dignity for dialects and traditions which in this era of globalization tends to be hidden.

At the Italian Fusion Festival, guest of the band will be the  Irish singer-songwriter born in Dublin Mark Geary.

Band

  • Riccardo Vianello: vocals, guitars, ukulele, marranzano. (author of the lyrics)
  • Michele Tiengo: accordions, theremin, music boxes, choirs
  • Giuseppe Fedrigo: guitars, mandolins, ukulele, backing vocals
  • Francesco Ferrarese: violin
  • Renato Naccari: electric bass, double bass
  • Marco Chiereghin: drums, percussion, keyboards

Pizza & Prosecco Night

Pizza & Prosecco Night

We are happy to introduce the food/drinks part of our festival. This year, the Italian Fusion Festival includes Pizza and Prosecco options. The Pizza & Prosecco van will welcome you to the concert venue to keep you going during this exciting evening of music! Delight your hearing and your taste with the special festival entry + pizza/prosecco ticket to make the most of this experience!

To enjoy the Pizza & prosecco at a very special price, you can buy one of our combo tickets

  • Standard Admission + Pizza & Prosecco
  • Standard Admission + Pizza & Prosecco + Dance Workshop
  • Full Italian Experience (Standard Admission + Pizza & Prosecco + Dance Workshop + an artwork of the Italian artist residents in Dublino, Mario Sughi/nerosumeo).

A very limited number of combo tickets are still available. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Buy Ticket

Mario Sughi Art Exhibition

Mario Sughi (nerosunero) Art Exhibition

During the festival, it will be possible to admire and buy at a very special price some artworks of Italian artist residents in Dublin, Mario Sughi (nerosunero).

Mario Sughi (nerosunero) is an Italian painter and illustrator based in Dublin. His solo exhibitions include Couple in the large space of the Complex Studios in Smithfield Square (Dublin 2011). He participated in the 54th Venice Biennale, the Italian Pavilion in the World, at the Italian Institute of Culture (Dublin 2011), and his work has been regularly shown in the RHA Annual Exhibitions

Over the past ten years, other solo exhibitions followed abroad and across Ireland, at Greyfriars  Municipal Art Gallery (Waterford 2012), Luan Gallery (Athlone 2017), Droichead Arts Centre (Drogheda 2017), the Italian Institute of Culture and the United Arts Club (Dublin 2022 & 2023).

In recent years, his works have been chosen for book and magazine covers, such as the Italian editions of novels by Sally Rooney, Emilie Pine, Emma Straub, and David Nicholls, and the weekly newspaper Domani.

The Full Experience Ticket includes General Admission, Pizza, Glass of Prosecco, Dance Workshop and one of the 16 original digital paintings author proofs generously donated by the artist nerosunero (Mario Sughi), displayed at the festival. The artworks, where Dublin is the main theme, are signed by the author. They are framed and printed on Hamermulle 308 gsm photo rag fine art paper. Size: 40x50cm. Before buying the ticket check the artworks and contact us at info@italianfusionfestival.com to choose the artwork among those still available, and you can collect it at the end of the festival.

Artworks in the exhibition and on sale

Lulu's World Band

Lulu’s World Band

We are happy to introduce the soul/funk part of our lineup. This year, the Italian Fusion Festival presents Lulu’s World Band.

Lulù is the nickname of Luisa Annibali, an Italian-born singer and songwriter living in Dublin and performing both in Ireland and Italy.  She started playing piano at the age of 7, but it took time to understand that music wasn’t just her hobby fully. As a matter of fact, after high school, she studied Law.

During her legal studies, she kept taking vocal classes and attending different Jazz, Blues, and Musical Theatre Workshops in Rome and worked part-time as a singer in bars and clubs, and at private events.

As soon as she graduated in Law, she worked in a law firm. Once she moved to Dublin, she started playing guitar and composing her own original music to realize that her career needed to change definitely.

In 2017 she made an application and successfully entered Newpark College (now in DCU) to study “Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance”.

Perfecting her technical abilities and unique sound over the years, Luisa Annibali is constantly working on live shows and studio recordings.

Her music naturally compounds different styles of music, exploring Jazz, Neo Soul, Funky, Brazilian music, and Free Jazz.

Indeed, the encounter between people from different cultures and musical influences makes her music and her performances so unique.

Very active in the jazz community, she recently got her BA in ‘Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance’ from Dublin City University. She is also an experienced vocal coach and music teacher. She worked as a singing teacher, music tutor, and vocal coach at the Sound Training College, the Sound Training Music Academy, and Music Generation Dublin City.

At the Italian Fusion Festival, on Sunday 22nd of October, she will present with Lulu’s World Band an exclusive repertoire of world music, exploring Italian, Brazilian, and Spanish music never really giving up her soul and R&B influences.

  • Luisa Annibali – Voice
  • Johnny Taylor – Piano
  • Johnny Batista – Guitar
  • Cormac O’Brien  – Bass
  • Dominic Mullan– Drums

Official Website: https://www.luisaannibali.com/

Facebook and Instagram Page:

https://www.facebook.com/luisa.annibali.music

https://www.instagram.com/lulu.music/

BALFOLK

Dance Workshop

We are happy to introduce the dance part of our festival. This year, the Italian Fusion Festival presents BalFolk Dance Workshop.

BalFolk Dublin is a community dance group organising balfolk dance sessions most Sundays at The Cobblestone pub (in the back room) from 4pm to 7pm. They are an inclusive and diverse group of people from all around the world, who meet to dance, socialise and have fun!

The Balfolk Ensemble was born out of the BalFolk dance group to add live music to our events. The Ensemble meets regularly at The Hut pub in Phibsboro for an intercultural musical exchange (and to socialise).

Balfolk dances are broadly inspired by folk dances and music from around the world (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Greece, Turkey, Israel etc.). The steps are generally easy, and technique is not the main concern. Having fun dancing together is more important! Balfolk dances take many shapes as they can be done in circles, in lines, or with a partner. Here are the names of some dances: Chapelloise, Mazurka, Circassian Circle, Waltz, Hassapiko, Sbrando, Repasseado, Schottische.

The Dance facilitators present at the festival will be Cristina San Miguel, Christine Warner, Myriam Deshaies, and Serena Piotti.

If you wish to join us in the dances, please come to the workshop from 5 pm to 6 pm, and please buy the limited combo ticket, including this session, where they will teach you the steps. Those who know the dances are welcome to join them on the dancefloor following the class; otherwise, you are welcome to enjoy the live performance and watch the dances they have taught. A very limited number of entry + dance workshop tickets are still available. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Buy Ticket